Old Mission Stories of California

A series of seven sketches recounts life around the Spanish missions in early California, blending documentary material with one wholly fictional tale. Vivid scene-setting ranges from desert mirages to cultivated mission gardens while focusing on Franciscan fathers, their ties to place, and relations with indigenous neophytes. Individual episodes portray prophecy and superstition, a priest's furtive departure, disputes over stewardship and funds, devotional practices, and local personalities, all rendered in plain narrative that emphasizes daily labor, attachment to mission communities, cultural encounters, and the quiet melancholy of institutional change.